In an opinion editorial in the Washington Post today, former Sudan Special Envoy and former director of USAID, Ambassador Andrew Natsios says that to stop the war on South Sudan, the U.S. should send anti aircraft weapons.
Some may think that this is too drastic of a proposal, but consider that the United States promised anti aircraft weapons to the South Sudan after the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Everyone knew that Khartoum only honors agreements for as long as it is expedient, and that their only real threat that South Sudan’s SPLA could not handle was aerial attack. So the Bush Administration stated its intention to provide anti aircraft weapons, “just in case.” Now the “case” is here. Khartoum, which has been bombing the Nuba Mountains since last June, and Blue Nile State since September, is now bombing over the border, in the sovereign country of the Republic of South Sudan.
It is into this scenario that Ambassador Natsios speaks.